Then, just when The Wife and I had gotten used to
one-third less rumble in the hallways and one-third fewer histrionics at the
make-up mirrors — after Mary’s two younger sisters, in other words, had
cannibalized her room and relegated her picked-over chattles to the guest
bedroom — it was time to drive down to Austin, Texas, and fetch Mary home. Mary
and her accumulated trove of dormware, that is.

It turned out that I was scheduled for an evaluation of
the 2004 Ford Expedition the very week Mary’s dormitory was to be padlocked
behind her. Ford kindly granted permission for a road-trip to Texas Hill Country
and back, and a whole new series of numbers is one of the by-products.

Dollars and daughters

For starters, how about 1717 miles for the
Nashville-Austin round-trip? Or 26-and-a-half hours of driving time out of a
total of 55 hours away from home? That’s a pretty darn good 65 mile-an-hour
average driving pace, if I do say so myself. Even better, it’s a 31 mile-an-hour
“rate of progress” even while sleeping and eating.

Then there’s the average of $1.923 per gallon for the 115
gallons of regular gasoline pumped along the way. Make that five fill-ups at an
average of $44 per tank-full. Make that 16.7 miles-per-gallon actually consumed
on the road (leaving about twelve gallons on-board and unused at trip’s end).
Make that 11.5 cents-per-mile for hauling a kid and her cargo cross-country for
a three-month recess, at the end of which the process simply repeats itself.

I’ve two more kids left!

So
perhaps you can sense the context within which I’m inclined to evaluate Ford’s
full-size sport-utility vehicle, the Expedition. As a troop carrier, it’s a
three-row and seven-, eight- or nine-seat wonder. As a cargo-handler, it’s
expandable from 20.6 cubic feet to 60.9 cu. ft. to 110.5 cu. ft., up to a
payload limit of 1629 pounds. If you’re inclined to pull things behind you, the
Expedition XLT 4X4 with 5.4-liter V-8 is tow-rated for 8650 lb. In other words,
this is an SUV that’s meant to shuttle lots of people and things around in very
large batches.

In the present instance, Mary’s
University of Texas loot comprised 26 cu. ft., which fit behind the upright
second-row bench seat. Ford's clever (albeit slow) PowerFold third row bench
folds absolutely flat, the better to accommodate my own brand of paternally
persnickety packing according to timeless geometric principles. Everything, in
other words, nested with everything else atop a perfectly square floor measuring
50 inches on a side; and nothing rose higher than the 18-in windowsill in order
to preserve a complete rear view.

And let's not forget the four giant, 39-gallon trash bags
stuffed with laundry that managed to fill an entire Yakima "Space Cadet" cargo
pod fastened to the Expedition's roof-mounted rack system. Think about that for
a moment: that’s 15 cu. ft. of dirty duds, the equivalent of an entire trunk in
a large sedan. If Mary is — as she certainly appears to be — a perfectly normal
undergraduate coed, what must that dormitory have looked like over the last two
semesters? Smelled like? Oh! the humanity...

Those are my numbers, and I’m sticking to ’em. Just the
same, they leave me in a bit of a quandary, a bit of a pickle. Regular visitors
to this space will no doubt acknowledge my distinct lack of, shall we say, zeal
in cheerleading for humongo-SUVs. After all, when a 5700-lb vehicle confronts
fuel costs approaching $2-per-gallon, the implications of a 13-mpg city, 17-mpg
highway mileage rating are stark.

Then again, clipping along for 1700 miles over 26 hours
behind the wheel at an average 65 mph is movin’. Much as I admire the MINI and
its ingenious 24 cu. ft. of cargo space, I am positively not going to make two
“T for Texas, T for Tennessee” round trips in a MINI Cooper for the sake of
fetching four bags of dirty laundry.

It bears pondering, in other words, what’s at stake when
the subject of large SUVs arises. In this Expedition’s case in particular, it’s
worth noting that my “cargo cost” (vehicle operating expenses only) for
transporting Mary’s college junk from Austin to Nashville came to $5.23 per cu.
ft. Of course, she could have flown home, one-way, for roughly half the fuel
costs, but hardly with all her tschotchkes and laundry.

I happen, moreover, to like to drive. Despite — indeed,
because of — its size, the Expedition is a doughty road warrior. Four-wheel
independent suspension is a boon to ride comfort and vehicle control. Threading
through dreaded I-35 from Dallas to Waco, threatened simultaneously by Jersey
barriers at the shoulders and 18-wheelers in every lane, the Expedition isn’t
easily intimidated. Although its 5.4-liter single-overhead-cam V-8 produces only
260 moderate horsepower, its 350 pound-feet of torque is more than ample for
passing moves and lane changes at sustained freeway speeds.

For the job I assigned it, I have to concede that Ford’s
Expedition redeemed itself and its as-tested price of $45,915. Among full-size
SUVs, it boasts an innovative cockpit, a comfortable ride, and a front-to-rear
Safety Canopy airbag system. It’s a proper choice for a given lifestyle; and
even a rise in fuel prices can’t change the fact that, for some folks,
cross-country hauling with people and cargo is a fact of that life. So is a
regular laundry schedule, of course; but first things first.

Have owned 5 Expeditions since the first, 1997

Overall Rating

Interior/Exterior

Performance

Comfort and Quality

Safety

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Fuel Economy / MPG

Reliability

Compared to the equivalent Chevy and GMC models the Expedition has more cargo space and leg room. The dials and gauges are much simpler to understand and work with than a 2012 GMC Acadia I had for two years...
Compared to the equivalent Chevy and GMC models the Expedition has more cargo space and leg room.
The dials and gauges are much simpler to understand and work with than a 2012 GMC Acadia I had for two years.
Many standard options along with the longer wheel base make it a better tow rig with a smoother ride then the competition
My current 2014 Expedition has a better ride and is much quieter than my 2014 MKS. I prefer my truck to my MKS on long trips. + More »

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June 19, 2015

For 2010 Ford Expedition

Love my 15 year old expedition!!

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My 1999 Ford Expedition is the best car I have ever owned. Drives and rides like a car. Still running great with over 200 thousand miles on it!! I will never drive anything but a Ford after having this car.
My 1999 Ford Expedition is the best car
I have ever owned. Drives and rides like a car. Still running great with over 200 thousand miles on it!! I will never drive anything but a Ford after having this car. + More »

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February 8, 2016

2006 Ford Expedition 4-Door Eddie Bauer

Shouldn't have bought.....

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Start off with it has very poor gas mileage; averages around 12.5 miles per gallon. On top of it has some sort of electrical issue that the dealership can't even fix that doesn't allow me to lock the car. If I...
Start off with it has very poor gas mileage; averages around 12.5 miles per gallon. On top of it has some sort of electrical issue that the dealership can't even fix that doesn't allow me to lock the car. If I do the theft deterrent system causes the alarm system to go off within a couple of minutes. This of course wears the battery down. Finally, the window switches on all 4 windows have have had to be replaced at a minimum of one time each. When these "break" it you can not operate the window up or down. Those are the major issues. + More »